He said there was a "bad atmosphere" between their two countries, and urged his German counterpart to dispel it.

Brandt surprised Poles by kneeling in humility in 1970

Mr Belka said it would send a powerful message if Mr Schroeder used the anniversary to speak out against reparation claims by Germans expelled from Poland.

"The bigger and stronger neighbour must always show greater sensitivity," he said.

Mr Belka said he did not suggest the chancellor should drop to his knees - as his predecessor Willy Brandt did in 1970 in a gesture of humility at the site of the 1943 Jewish rebellion in the Warsaw ghetto.

"We do not expect him to kneel but we expect good words," he said.

The partisan uprising broke out at 1700 on 1 August, 1944.

At the time, its commanders estimated they could hold out for about five days without help.

Against a vastly better-equipped German army, the insurgents held out for much longer - 63 days. Its leaders were counting on help from the rapidly advancing Soviet army, which had just reached the outskirts of Warsaw.

Alone

The partisans also believed their Western allies, Britain and the United States, would provide assistance. In the end, very little arrived.

The Red Army halted its advance and observed the battle from the other side of Warsaw's Vistula River.